خُبزُ إِسماعيلَ كَالوَش

يِ إِذا ما اِنشَقَّ يُرفا

The bread of Ismael is like gauze

Ismail's bread is like a brocade cloth,

When split, it gently opens

That is repaired whenever it is torn.

عَجَباً مِن أَثَرِ الصَن

عَةِ فيهِ كَيفَ يَخفى

Wondrous is the effect of craft

I marvel at the trace of workmanship,

In it, how hidden it is

Within it, how it stays unseen, unworn.

إِنَّ رَفّاءَكَ هَذا

أَحذَقُ الأُمَّةِ كَفّا

Verily, your bread-making

Indeed, this mender whom you utilize,

Is the most skillful of all people

Is the most skilled of hands in all the land.

وَإِذا قابَلَ بِالنِص

فِ مِنَ الجَردَقِ نِصفا

And when confronted with a loaf

For when he matches one half of a loaf,

From simple dough made in halves

Against another half within his hand,

يُلصِقُ النِصفَ بِنِصفٍ

فَإِذا قَد صارَ أَلفا

It sticks one half to the other half

He sticks the one half to the other half,

And it becomes a whole loaf

So that the two become a single whole.

أَلطَفَ الصَنعَةَ حَتّى

لا تَرى مِغرَزَ إِشفى

With the gentlest craft, until

He makes the craft so fine you cannot see,

No trace of a seam is seen

The insertion of the needle or the awl.

مِثلَما جاءَ مِنَ التَن

نورِ ما غادَرَ حَرفا

As it came from the oven

Just as it came directly from the stove,

Without a letter left behind

With not a single detail gone astray.

وَلَهُ في الماءِ أَيضاً

عَمَلٌ أَبدَعَ ظَرفا

And with water too

And regarding water, he also has,

It has made the most creative work

A practice of a wit on full display.

مَزجُهُ العَذبَ بِماءِ ال

بِئرِ كَي يَزدادُ ضِعفا

Mixing fresh with well water

He mixes sweet water with water of,

So it becomes twice as soft

The well, so that the volume multiplies.

فَهوَ لا يَسقيكَ مِنهُ

مِثلَما يَشرَبُ صِرفا

It neither gives you to drink from it

Thus he will never offer you a cup,

Like one who gulps it down

As pure as that which he himself enjoys.